Baidengor
Baidengor is the Nordheimr God of water, lifeblood, and fluid. Worship Baidengor was a mild and not very popular god since his inception in prehistory, but made a resurgence in following in the 1100s. His followers were professional soldiers (as opposed to his brother Aidenthore's patronage of folk warriors), although his spectrum of followers grew into the general population later on. He has a dedicated priesthood and the patron of many paladin orders. Almost all important rituals associated with him involve some sort of anointment, due to the symbolism of cleansing and liquid Symbolism Baidengor is associated with rain, weather, rivers, and wells - he is a god of fresh waters, not a sea god. He is also associated with refreshment, cleansing, and nourishment. Since his resurgence, his new followers have developed a more complex set of associations – rivers, liquid, and circulation are interpreted as abstract, referring to the flow of ideas, resources, blood, etc. and so his followers have amassed a set of values related to him being a god of people and communities interacting, that lets the lifeblood flow through everyone. Still, he has not left his roots as a warrior god, whose power surges in people’s veins as they defend the people they care about. He is usually depicted in a magical, glowin silver armour and helmet, and is usually seen with a light brown and braided beard, and carrying the legendary Axe of Thirteen Bloods. Mythology Baidengor is believed to be the brother of Aidenthore, and according to mythology they roughhouse and playfully bicker so much that they even wrestled in their mother's womb to see who would be born first. Aidenthore won by being full of rage, and was born first, but Baidengor's patience meant he nourished inside the womb for longer and was born with stronger bones. This shows that being direct may get you what you want, but at a cost, and patience will win out in the end. It is said that Völindr forged his legendary Axe of Thirteen Bloods, which he wielded to slay many powerful foes and bring vengeance to Nordheim against its Jotun enemies, before passing it down to mortals. It contained within it the blood of the Thirteen Wicked Races who the brothers destroyed in the Primordial Age - the aforementioned Jotun, the Darthonn, and the "Eleven Lost" - the identity of whom isn't clear. The last Darthonn slain was the evil dragon-god Nidhogg who circled the world and kept it turning. He was crushed by his old enemy Aidenthore's fist in a berserker rage, though Baidengor made sure to trap his blood into the axe so that he could never be revived. Baidengor notoriously married the sea witch Nelga, despite her typically being an enemy and mythological antagonist. Some dwarves see this as him metaphorically "conquering" her, others see this as the ultimate mutual victory of realizing they'd be stronger together and forming a power couple. The events of 'Ragnarøkkr '- the foretold future apocalypse - begins when the trickster Eylok will disguise as Nelga and bed Baidengor. This is so that she may steal the Axe of Thirteen Bloods as he sleeps. Curiously, even though the Axe was passed down to the mortals, in the mythology he seems to possess it once again. In some tellings of the story, he is prophesied to retrieve it once more when a legendary mortal champion who was wielding will die, bringing the Axe with him to meet his god. In other tellings, Eylok already retrieved the Axe, but cannot activate it without Baidengor's blood as identification, which she steals as he sleeps. Either way, Eylok, with the Axe in hand, will release all of the Wicked Races that were trapped - all but the final dragon. This is uncharacteristically destructive for the usually playful Eylok, but some tellings say this is an accident, and all she was doing was trying to revive one single monster to scare Baidengor. Others just say she escalates too far and leave it at that. Gorhelm shall throw down his Hammer of Justice, sending the wicked Eylok to death. As she lays dying, she curses Hol to return to life in one final prank. As a result of this, Eylok – and everyone – will be immortal. The dead rise from their graves, and the world is in chaos. The Unworthy go to escape Hol. Ragbard sings a tune to awaken Baidengor. He comes to, and journeys with his little brother Magnýr to recapture his axe from Hol. Magnýr uses all of his luck to pass without being touched by the Unworthy who are escaping Hol, which would make him Unworthy. After the axe is reclaimed, Baidengor goes to slay the wicked races once more. Aidenthore joins him on this, but the rage within him from Eylok’s betrayal causes him to lose control. He slays Magnýr by accident, because Magnýr used up all of his luck reclaiming the axe. With all the luck in the world gone, Baidengore swings his axe in just the wrong way to release the final blood within the axe – that of Nidhogg. But instead of the serpent of the old, Jörmungandr the world serpent appears, to end all things, the essence of the infinite serpent within him, but with ultimate power and a new might. He destroys the universe, and everything in it, all the gods wiped from existence, all except Hol, who rebuilds the world. Category:Gods Category:Valgardians Category:Deities